


Midoriya Izuku: 10th Grade Ninja

by PeachesnCherry



Category: Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Mild Blood, Mild Suicidal Ideation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other additional characters to be added, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, eventual shinkami, eventual tododeku, for like one second, i'll add those relationships to the relationship tags once they pop up, literally making this up as i write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29729313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachesnCherry/pseuds/PeachesnCherry
Summary: That night-black outfit, the blood-red decals, the swirling scarf. None other than The Ninja saved him.Midoriya, the fanboy he is, shrieks. He’s saved not just by All Might, but by The Ninja too on the same day?? He feels lightheaded. Or maybe that’s the sudden blood loss he’s experiencing.______What happens when Midoriya prevents the slime villain from falling out of All Might's pockets? There's no chance to prove to All MIght that he can become a hero, so what's a depressed and dejected young Izuku to do?
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Original Character(s), Randy Cunningham & NinjaNomicon
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	1. Who needs All Might-sensei when you have Ninja-sensei?

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, yes I know. I know that this is my 4th written fanfic and I haven't finished the others. But what can I say? I love creating stories
> 
> Anyways, enjoy what I created in the span, of like, 3 days. C:

“Well then,” All Might says as he prepares a mighty leap.

No, no, no! Izuku can’t let him leave! He has questions! Life-changing questions!!

With what little strength he possesses after being choked by that slime villain, Midoriya sprints to All Might and clings to his leg.

“I’m counting on your continued support!” And All Might leaps.

The wind instantly blasts against Midoriya’s face, causing intense dry eye and dry mouth. 

All Might looks back, a look of shock and mild anger on his face. “Hey, hey, hey! Let go of me! Your fanaticism is too much!” He tries to lightly shove Midoriya off. 

“If I... let go now… I’ll… I’ll die!”

All Might stops his shoving. “Oh, that’s true.” And he instead grabs onto Midoriya, ensuring he doesn’t fall. 

This is Izuku’s one chance! “I... have… a lot of things… I want to ask you directly!”

“Okay, okay! I get it, so close your eyes and mouth!”

Midoriya is about to, when he spots the bottles of the slime villain slipping out of All Might’s pockets. “Ah, All Might! The villain… the slime villain is slipping out!”

“Hmm?” All Might looks over to his pockets and then quickly shoves the bottles deeper into them. “Thanks, young man!”

Ah, thank goodness! If the bottles had fallen, then Izuku would practically be responsible for the villain’s escape! 

Midoriya closes his eyes and mouth, no longer feeling a need to keep them open. He clings to All Might with… well, all his might. 

Once they land atop a building, Midoriya does not feel like letting go. His stomach has failed to realize that they’ve landed and thus Midoriya clings. 

“Hey, we’ve landed!”

Once All Might’s voice reminds him that he’s clinging to _All Might_ , he lets go with a small yelp. He’s shaking like a newborn deer. “Th- that was scary…”

All Might faces away from him. “Good grief. If you talk to the people downstairs, I’m sure they’ll let you down.” He starts walking, clearly leaving. “I seriously am outta time, so I really must go.”

This snaps Midoriya out of his funk. He reaches out with his hand. “Wait! Um-”

“No! I will not wait!”

“But-”

Suddenly a string of flashbacks hit him all at once. 

“ _You should probably give it up._ ”

“ _I’m sorry, Izuku! I’m sorry. I’m sorry!_ ”

His hand drops. 

“ _What the hell can you do? You’re quirkless!_ ”

Midoriya has been told since he was four years old that his dream is now ridiculous. People give him looks of pity instead of admiration when he says he wants to be a hero. It hurts. All of it hurts a lot. But his passion and drive has never been completely destroyed. Sure, he’s quirkless, it’s true. But even so, he…

He stares at the ground, feeling fear and hope fight in his chest. “Even if I don’t have a quirk, can I become a hero?”

All Might stops in his tracks. He says nothing.

Midoriya takes this as an invitation to continue. “Can even someone without a quirk... be like you?”

He can’t take it anymore and shuts his eyes. This is it. This is the moment his entire life has built up to. The make-or-break point. 

All Might’s voice is almost too low to hear. “...Without a quirk…”

“It might’ve been because I don’t have a quirk, but I’m always made fun of… Maybe that’s why… I don’t know…” Midoriya wills his eyes open but doesn’t look at All Might, instead looking down to fiddle with his hands. “But I think saving people is super cool.” Thinking about it makes him smile. To be a hero… “Saving people with a fearless smile. I want to be the greatest hero, like you-!”

Standing before him is some skeleton of a man surrounded by wisps of smoke. 

Midoriya can’t help the startled scream that leaves his mouth. 

Wh- what? Where did All Might go? Wait- that golden hair, the height of the man standing before him, it- is it really?

“Y-y-you’re deflating!”

All Might(?) looks distinctly unimpressed. 

This- this can’t be All Might, no matter the similarities and coincidence of them standing in the same spot as before..!

Midoriya looks around, praying in his head this is some prank… or perhaps- “Wait, up until now… Huh? Fake? A fake!? You’re so skinny!”

Somehow, the fake All Might looks even more unimpressed than before, and perhaps a little irritated. “I am All Might-” And blood pours from his mouth. 

Midoriya shrieks. “NO WAY!”

“You know how the guys at the pool are constantly flexing and posturing? It’s like that.”

“No way! I-it can’t be… All Might is fearless… he saves everyone with a smile… He’s the greatest..!”

All Might sighs. “A fearless smile, huh?” He sits down and leans back against the railing. “Now that you’ve seen me like this, young man, make certain you don’t write about this online, even accidentally.”

A- a secret? That All Might deflates or-

All Might lifts the side of his shirt and Midoriya can’t help but flinch back at the sight. 

“It’s an injury I got from an enemy’s attack five years ago. Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed. And I lost my whole stomach. I’ve become emaciated from repeated surgeries and the aftereffects.” He lowers his shirt back over his scar. “Right now, I can only work as a hero for about three hours a day.”

Midoriya gasps. “That can’t be… Five years ago… Was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?”

“You’re well informed.” All Might raises a clenched fist. “But a punk like that couldn’t defeat me. This fight was not made public to the world. I asked that it not be made public.” He lowers his fist and looks directly at Midoriya. “I will save people with a smile! The Symbol of Peace cannot be daunted by evil. I smile to show the pressure of heroes and to trick the fear inside of me.”

Midoriya sucks in a breath. It feels unbelievable. All Might… feels fear?

“Pros are always risking their lives. I cannot simply say, ‘You can become a hero even without power.’”

Midoriya feels his heart stop. “Ah…”

All Might stands up. “If you want to help others, then you could become a police officer. They’re often teased because they get villains delivered to their doorstep, but that is also a fine occupation.” All Might walks away, as if he can’t hear how with every word he shatters Izuku’s heart. He opens the door to the building, but pauses. “It’s not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what’s realistic, young man.”

And with that, he closes the door behind him, leaving Midoriya to stand, mouth agape, alone atop the roof. 

…

…..

Midoriya isn’t certain how long he stays up there. His mind is blank and he’s uncertain if his heart is still beating or not. 

After who knows how long, he realizes that his mother will be wondering where he is. So, without much thought, he heads for the door to the building and opens it. He makes certain that the door is closed behind him and heads down an empty stairwell. Once he reaches the ground floor, some people give him some odd looks, but otherwise leave him alone. Which, he supposes is good. He’s not certain he can speak right now, and if he could he probably wouldn’t be coherent. Or he’d burst into tears. 

He exits the building and takes a step before realizing that he doesn’t know where home is exactly. Looking around, he takes in his surroundings. He’s been chasing after heroes so much that he has a good chunk of this city memorized. Luckily, he recognizes this part of town and starts heading home. 

…

Midoriya desperately does not want to think. He doesn’t want to think at all. If he does, he just knows he’ll start crying and never stop. 

All Might…

All Might told him straight to his face that he can’t be a hero. 

Out of all the people in the world, the person he admires the most… told him to give up on his dream. 

Midoriya can feel his heart crumbling and is desperately trying to hold it together, but it falls between his fingers like sand. He really _really_ wants his emotions to go away, but instead he feels tears welling up. 

Damnit. 

He quickly raises his arm to dry his face, but more tears replace them as quickly as they were removed. 

...What does he have to cry about? For once in his life facing the truth and not denying it? How pathetic. All Might was right about him being incapable of being a hero. If his first reaction to being denied his dream is to cry, then what good of a hero would he make? 

Everyone was right this entire time about him. He needed to wake up and face reality, and boy what a wake-up call this was. The doctor, Kacchan, everyone at school, his mom…

His mom. 

Midoriya stops walking. 

What would his mother say once she learns what All Might said? What would she say once she learns that Izuku is… giving up. 

Would she agree with what All Might said? Would she be relieved? Would she say something that implies, ‘I told you so,’? 

Izuku… isn’t ready for that. He doesn’t need his mom to step on the shattered remains of his heart and grind them into dust. 

Perhaps he’s still in denial, but, can’t he take his time before the inevitable pain?

...Midoriya turns away from the path he was on and instead walks in a different direction. Where to? Anywhere but home. 

He walks. He tries to make sense of the pain in what’s left of his heart. Tries to figure out some life plan that doesn’t involve becoming a hero. Tries and fails. And he walks. 

A hideous smell practically punches him in the face and he looks over to see what could have caused the annoyance. 

It’s trash. A lot of trash. On a beach. 

Midoriya knows this place, but last he saw it the trash pile wasn’t nearly this big. Or reek this bad. 

He walks over to the rail overlooking the beach. It’s all… disgusting. Unsightly, unclean, un… bad, very bad. It leaves Midoriya feeling uncomfortable. Not just because of the scent or the sight, but because people would ruin such a supposedly nice beach. 

That and it feels like looking into a mirror. 

A flash of what Kacchan had said earlier enters his mind.

“ _If you wanna be a hero that badly, there’s a quick way to do it. Believe that you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a last chance dive off the roof!_ ”

Midoriya’s hands grip tightly on the railing. For a split moment, Izuku wonders if that would work. 

But, no, no! What is he thinking! He can’t leave mom like that! Even if his life is worthless, he can’t break her heart. There just… there has to be another thing to do, another way to live his life! 

“ _If you want to help others, then you could become a police officer._ ”

Maybe… maybe All Might is right in that regard too. Maybe he could help behind the scenes… or something. Perhaps a detective?

He sighs. This is too much for one day. He feels exhausted, plus the sun is starting to set. The last thing he needs is for mom to get so worried that she calls the police. Wasting everybody’s time…

Midoriya heads home once again. 

Except, he realizes that he’s incredibly thirsty. All that crying and walking around without any drink? He’s parched. 

He checks the secret compartment inside his backpack that contains his emergency money stash. Thankfully nobody except him and his mother knows about it, otherwise the other people at school would try to steal that too. He has two thousand and five hundred yen. More than enough to get a tea at a convenience store. If Izuku remembers correctly, there’s one at the street corner down the road. 

Stashing the two thousand yen back into his bag, he shoves the five hundred yen into his pocket and puts his backpack back on. He walks down the street, trying to not let the scent of the trash get to him. 

He reaches the store and enters, hearing a little _jingle_ as the door opens and closes. He makes his way to the refrigerated section, looking over his options. 

_Jingle_

Hmm… black milk tea, or green?

A screech fills the air, reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard, startling Midoriya and making him clamp his hands over his ears. 

“Put all the money in the bag if you want to keep your face intact!”

Oh. Oh no. 

Midoriya slowly lowers his arms and looks in the direction of the clerk. There is a man wearing a black hoodie towering over the woman at the counter, brandishing his silver-painted- no, his _steel_ sharpened fingernails near her face. The woman has a terrified look on her face and she moves quickly to open the register. 

Despite feeling a desperate need to hide and not be found, Midoriya found himself inching _towards_ the encounter. Why? He has no clue. 

The woman shoves all the money into the bag as fast as she can. 

Once she’s done, the man looks over the money and then looks incredibly pissed. “Are you shitting me? There’s hardly any money here at all!” He slams his hand on the counter.

Midoriya grabs the nearest thing in his reach and inches ever closer, hoping desperately that he won’t be noticed. 

The woman is shaking. “Sir, I’m sorry, but this is a convenience store, not a bank!”

The man growls and lunges for her. 

She shrieks. 

Midoriya moves. 

He throws whatever it is he grabbed (a half-empty box of chocolate candies) at the man’s head, hoping to distract him. 

The man flinches for a moment as the box hits him in the face, and Midoriya body checks him. The villain falls to the floor, unfortunately with Midoriya on top of him. 

Before Midoriya can reorientate himself or figure out what to do next, the villain has grabbed his arm in a killer grip and his fingernails dig easily past Midoriya’s clothes and into his flesh. He hisses in pain and tries to rip his arm out of the man’s grip, but it’s too strong. 

The man doesn’t let go, and instead stands up, dragging Midoriya with him until he’s holding him up with one arm. Midoriya’s feet don’t even reach the floor anymore. He tries to gain some ground by gripping the villain’s arm with his free hand and digging his nails into it, but the man’s hoodie has long sleeves. He then tries to kick, but it’s surprisingly hard to get anything solid off when you’re held by the arm. All the villain does is chuckle.

_Jingle_

The villain turns around to face the noise, only to be greeted with a sword to the face. 

“I’d let that boy go if I were you.”

Midoriya is unceremoniously dropped to the ground. He lands almost feet first, but his knees gave out making him land on his back, letting out an _oof_. He gasps as he feels blood well up where his arm was punctured. He rolls onto his side and lightly grips his arm. That’s going to bruise. 

But, wait, who saved him?

Midoriya looks up and gasps again, this time in shock. 

That night-black outfit, the blood-red decals, the swirling scarf. None other than The Ninja saved him. 

Midoriya, the fanboy he is, shrieks. He’s saved not just by All Might, but by The Ninja too on the same day?? He feels lightheaded. Or maybe that’s the sudden blood loss he’s experiencing. 

He stands up quickly and, oh, bad idea. The world swirls around him, and he nearly falls back down. 

Thankfully somebody catches him. “You alright, kid?”

“Yeah, I’m-” He cuts himself off as he realizes that it’s The Ninja who helped him. “Wh- But, the villain?” Midoriya looks over to where the villain was last, just to see his unconscious body. “Woah, so fast…”

The Ninja laughs. “I prioritize speed and efficiency over flashiness. Do you think that you can stand on your own now?”

“Ah, y-yes!”

The Ninja slowly lets him go, as if worried that he’ll collapse without support. After a couple of seconds with Midoriya still standing, The Ninja takes their arms back to their sides. “Excellent! Now then,” they turn to look at the clerk, “you’ve called the police, right?”

The woman startles. “Oh, ah, not yet.” She reaches into her pants pocket and pulls out a cellphone. 

The Ninja turns back to Midoriya. They stare for a few seconds, a thoughtful look in their eyes. 

He does his best not to hyperventilate. Is he going to be scolded?

“...I have a few questions I’d like to ask you, kid. Do you mind?”

Midoriya shakes his head fervently. 

“Why did you decide to rush that villain? Didn’t you realize how incredibly dangerous that could have been?”

Midoriya flinches. Ah, so he is being scolded. “Y-yes, I knew.” 

The Ninja continues to stare at him. They’re waiting. 

“It… it’s not like I was trying to be a hero! My body just- it just moved on it’s own!” He stares down at his hands, fiddling with them. “That probably doesn’t make any sense, I’m sorry…”

Silence. And then, “What’s your name, kid?”

He dares to look up. The Ninja doesn’t really look mad. But then again, most of their face is covered. “Midoriya Izuku.”

They hum. “Your outfit… you’re in middle school, right? What grade?”

That’s… an odd question. “I’m in my last year.”

For a split moment, Midoriya thought he saw a glimmer of excitement in their eyes. But he blinks and the glimmer is gone. 

“Tell me, kid, do you want to be a hero?”

Of course he does! But… “I do, but I don’t… have… a quirk.”

“...Oh.”

More silence. 

The Ninja hums. “That shouldn’t be too much of an issue…”

Huh?

They place a hand on Midoriya’s shoulder. “Kiddo, I think you have what it takes to be a hero.”

What?

They take their hand back and look around. “Hmm, do you think you could meet me at Takoba Municipal Beach next Friday? Sometime around five thirty in the afternoon?”

What?? 

They look back at him, confusion in their eyes. “Kiddo?”

“Why?”

The Ninja blinks. “To train you, of course.”

Midoriya stares. “You… you think I can be a hero?”

“Yes?”

“Even though I’m quirkless.”

“Yes.”

…

Midoriya bursts into tears. 

“WHA- Kiddo, you okay? I- uh-”

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

Midoriya doesn’t bother wiping away his tears. “Thank you. I… Today, I was ready to give up on being a hero, but… you really think that I have what it takes?”

The Ninja looks incredibly awkward, so much so that he almost wants to laugh. “Er… yes. I do.” They place their hand atop his head and pats them. “You, uh, is it common for you to burst into tears like this?”

Midoriya sobs. “I’m just s-so happy!”

They tilt their head to the side. 

Before The Ninja could reply, the sound of sirens in the distance pulls away both of their attentions. 

They take back their hand. “You can keep all this a secret, can’t you Midoriya?”

He nods his head repeatedly.

“And you too, clerk lady?”

The clerk lady, who was pretending not to listen, suddenly jerks up in attention. “Oh, uh-”

They place a finger in front of where their mouth would be. “Please? I’d appreciate it if you can keep the fact I’m training one of the next heroes a secret. Don’t need people swarming that dump just because people want photos of me with them and whatnot.”

The clerk lady hesitates, then nods. “Certainly, my lips are sealed.”

The Ninja _bows_. “It’s much appreciated.”

By the time The Ninja stands straight, the police car arrives. Out of the car comes a couple of police officers. 

_Jingle_

One of the police officers has a cat head. “Ninja, what are you doing so far away from U.A.?” He looks at the still unconscious villain. “Surely a simple convenience store robber wouldn’t drag you all the way out here?”

The Ninja shrugs. “I can’t spend my entire life at U.A. High. I figured a walk would be nice, ended up spotting a villain, and decided to take action.”

The police officers look at each other and then nod. The other officer without any obvious mutation quirk works on putting the cuffs on the villain. 

The cat-headed officer pulls out a notepad and pen. “Alright, I’m going to have to ask everyone here a few- oh. You’re bleeding!” He points at Midoriya. 

Midoriya blinks. “Huh?” He looks down at his arm and the subsequent blood pooling on the floor. “Oh, right. I forgot.”

“You- “ The officer sighs, hanging his head. He turns to face his colleague, “Can you call for an ambulance?” 

Midoriya waves his hands in a dismissive manner. “No, no! I’ll be fine!” 

He convinces noone as he splatters blood everywhere from waving his arm back and forth. 

“Sonny, you ought to sit down and rest before you make yourself lose too much blood.”

The Ninja places their hands on Midoriya’s shoulders, gently pushing him down. “You should listen to the nice officer.”

Midoriya sighs and relents, sitting down and waiting for the ambulance. 

Oh boy, mom’s going to flip once she finds out about all this. 

The sound of someone sitting next to him makes Midoriya look over, just to see The Ninja sitting there. They wrap their scarf around his wounds, effectively acting as a makeshift bandage. He looks them in the eyes, and they appear to be smiling. 

Midoriya starts crying again.


	2. Exposition Beach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not know how to spread the exposition bit across the story, so it's just around 550 words of sweet lore all at once. I tried to shorten it, but only managed to cut like 70 words or so. (The best part is that I fricking made it up as I went along. Hopefully I've covered all my plot holes, or at least most of them.)
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy! :>
> 
> Edit: Welcome back everybody! Hopefully y'all don't mind me shifting things around. And if you're new, well, don't worry about it! :3

“Bye, mom! I’ll be back later!”

“Take care sweetheart! And have fun with your new friend!!”

Midoriya’s smile could outshine the sun. “Sure will, mom!”

He can see tears well up in his mother’s eyes as she smiles back. She waves goodbye as he closes the door. 

He does feel bad for having to lie to her about what exactly happened. That really he’s secretly meeting up with  _ The _ Ninja to be taught how to become a hero..! 

Midoriya muffles his excited screams into his hands. Wasting no more time, he turns and starts running towards Takoba Municipal Beach. 

He has sooo many questions to ask! In fact, he made a list! He wrote it in his newest journal series, Hero Analysis for the Present #1! He made certain to bring it in his backpack along with a pencil, a spare t-shirt, spare sweatpants, a bottle of water, and a snack!

By the time he makes it halfway to the beach he’s already out of breath and has to take a quick break. After he catches his breath, he then starts jogging the rest of the way there. 

What can he say? Izuku is incredibly excited! So much so that he accidentally pissed off Kacchan in class today by tapping his pencil impatiently while waiting for the end of homeroom. Typically he’d be focused on whatever the teacher was discussing for the plans of the following day (or in this case, on Monday), but he kept zoning out wondering how the training would go. 

Were the bruises worth it? Well, for the pencil tapping, no. But for training with The Ninja? Unquestionably yes! 

At least Kacchan went somewhat easier on him once he learned he had to get stitches from a villain attack. And sure, Izuku maybe fudged some of the story so Kacchan wouldn’t beat him too hard for,  _ ‘trying to be a hero in a dangerous situation’  _ and that he was just,  _ ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’ _ . But can you blame Izuku? He didn’t want to be incapable of whatever training the Ninja has planned for him!

Midoriya reaches a familiar-looking convenience store and dares to jog faster. Just a little further and he’ll reach the beach!!

By the time he reaches the railing overlooking the beach, he’s out of breath again. He takes a deep breath and almost regrets it, as the smell is something horrid. 

As he’s gagging in air, he notices a peculiar sight. 

The Ninja is already there, but they’re pacing? They almost look worried. 

Oh no, is Izuku late?? Forget breathing, he has to make certain The Ninja doesn’t worry about him!

Midoriya rushes down the stairs, nearly falling as he does, and makes his way to where The Ninja… is?

They’re gone. 

Looking this way and that, Midoriya really can’t see them anywhere. Are they blending in with the shadows? Is this a test of some sort?

“You’re here early.”

Midoriya screams as a voice sounds behind him. He quickly turns around to see The Ninja standing there. “Ah, Ninja-sensei!” He quickly bows. He then realizes what was said and stands back up quickly. “I’m sorry if it was an inconvenience for me being here so early-”

The Ninja places a hand on his shoulder. “Kiddo, calm down, everything’s okay! And, uh,” they scratch their face through their mask, “sorry for scaring you too. It’s become a habit.”

“I-it’s no problem at all, sensei!” 

For a brief moment, Midoriya sees… something flash in The Ninja’s eyes, but it’s gone before he can tell what it was. “Ah, before you call me sensei… there is one test that must be done.” They step away from Midoriya. “If you fail… I might have gotten you excited about becoming a hero for nothing.”

He feels his heart still for a beat. “I-I see…” 

They stand in silence for a couple of seconds. 

Midoriya clenches his fists. “Whatever it is, I can and will pass, no matter what!”

There’s a look of appraisal in The Ninja’s eyes. “I like your spunk, kiddo. Now then, the test is a simple one.”

Izuku is ready. 

“You must open this book.” And they pull a book out from behind them that is wider than they are. 

“...That’s it?” Izuku wonders where the book could have possibly come from. 

The Ninja holds out the book to him. “Are you ready to face your destiny?”

He stares a moment. Then he lightly slaps his face with both hands. Whatever this test is meant to be, Izuku  _ can _ and  _ will _ pass. “I’m ready.” And he reaches out for the book. 

As he touches the spine, he feels a shudder run through the book, reaching out to him and making him shudder in return. Midoriya almost shrieks, but something keeps him transfixed. Instead, he fully grabs the book with both hands. He hears whispers in his mind, whispers of ancient secrets too delicate to be made out. As he looks over the red and black decals on the cover he could almost swear that the book is  _ looking back at him _ . The book is warm and the whispers grow louder. They’re telling him something, to  _ do _ something. 

Izuku opens the book. 

It opens in a flourish, flipping through pages without his help. He feels something tugging behind his eyes and then a tugging from down in his chest. He feels like the breath is sucked out of his lungs. 

Midoriya blinks and he’s falling. He lets out a startled yelp and braces for the ground, but he keeps falling. Daring to open his eyes a sliver, they’re blown wide open at the sight around him. The world is beige with black and red drawn details that look more like decoration than anything significant. Everything whips by him as he continues to fall, making it difficult to take it all in. 

The whispers grow louder and Midoriya suddenly realizes that he can’t hear them, it’s being projected into his own head. They grow louder still, talking over each other in a cacophony of noise. 

Series of drawn images of ninjas and bits of text flash before his eyes. Fights, meditation, training, studying. It’s completely overwhelming. 

Just when it all starts to feel like too much, a voice rings out. “Nomi, you’re freaking the kid out! I know you like to be all mystical and whatnot, but I think that’s enough.”

Midoriya looks around, wondering where the voice came from. Then he’s falling into a bright flash of white, making him shut his eyes tightly. It doesn’t do much, it’s almost like he doesn’t even have eyelids. By the time his eyes adjust to the white, it fades away, leaving behind a scene of painted mountains, clouds, birds, and valleys dipping down rapidly getting closer because he iS FALLING STILL. 

Midoriya can’t help the loud screech that exits his mouth. 

The ground gets closer, closer still. He braces for impact but knows it’s for naught. This is it, this is how he dies. 

There’s a flash of black and he feels the air leave his lungs with an  _ oof _ . But more than that, Midoriya’s dazed mind realizes that he’s traveling mostly sideways now. And even more important is that he’s being carried like a sack of potatoes. He watches the scenery below him, vaguely wondering what the hell is happening anymore. 

His… savior? lands upon a patch of soft-looking dirt. They pull him off their shoulder and gently set him down on his feet. His knees wobble before collapsing under him, butt hitting the ground as he stares without seeing. 

Holy fuck. That was terrifying. 

“Hey, I saved you from hitting the ground and you go and hit it anyway?”

Midoriya blinks, and then looks up. 

Standing there before him is… The Ninja? They hold out a hand at him. “Need a hand?”

Wait, is this really The Ninja? There are differences in their costume, figure, and voice. Midoriya gingerly takes the offered hand. He’s hefted up with surprising speed considering the lithe figure. 

The Ninja’s(?) eyes appear to smile. “So nice to be meeting you, Midoriya! You have no idea what it’s like to actually see a new face after so long.”

“...Who are you? And how do you know my name?”

The Ninja(?) stands stunned before moving dramatically into an attacking pose a ninja would take. “Is it not obvious?”

Midoriya stares. 

They make karate-chopping motions with their arms. 

Midoriya really isn’t certain what to make of this. 

In the distance, there are sounds of bells jingling. 

The Ninja(?) stands ramrod straight and yells in the direction the sound of the bells were coming from. “QUIT LAUGHING AT ME, NOMI!”

The bells jingle faster and louder. 

The Ninja(?) grumbles to themselves and faces him again. Their arms are crossed and… Midoriya is not sure, but he thinks they’re pouting. “Just ignore Nomi, they like to make fun of me.”

Before Midoriya can even think of a response, The Ninja(?) is wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Anyway, the name’s Cunningham Randy! And I know your name because I’ve been talking about it with Utsusu-chan!”

Those… are a couple of odd names. “Is… Koni… Konihamu...” He blushes in embarrassment. 

Cunningham laughs. “Don’t worry, Midoriya! You’ll get it with time!”

“Is- is Konihamu an American name? It sounds American.”

“ **That’s correct! Tell me, do you know English?** ”

Midoriya only has the slightest of clues of what Cunningham just said. The words correct, you, no, and English are the only ones he understands. “Uhm… I don’t know English that well?”

Cunningham hums. “That’s too bad. But you’ll get better at it once you get into U.A.! Present Mic is a great teacher from what Utsusu-chan says.”

Get into U.A.!? Present Mic teaches??! Who in the world is Utsusu-chan? Also, where the heck is he?? What is even going on??

Cunningham lets go of his shoulders and pats his head. “I know you must be incredibly confused by all this, but, please, only a few questions at a time!”

Oops, did he say all that out loud?

“You did.”

Midoriya blushes and hides his mouth behind his hands. “Ah, sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay, dude! There’s no need to worry about it!”

He frets for another moment before deciding to believe this Cunningham Ninja person. He calms down marginally and lowers his hands. “So- so you’re… a Ninja? Or something? Who are you and… uh, where are we?”

Cunningham poses in a power stance. “Yes, I am a Ninja! But also,” he shifts his pose to a spooky one, “I’m a ghoOoOost!” They wiggle their fingers in Midoriya’s face. “And we,” they takes their arms and gesture to everything, “are inside The NinjaNomicon!” They settle into a more casual pose. “But NinjaNomicon is too long a name, so I just call them Nomi.”

Processing…

What. “Ghosts are real?”

“Yep. But, I might be the only one to exist, I think.” Cunningham hums a moment. “I don’t know, there could be somebody out there with a ghost quirk, but I’m not sure if that counts. Speaking of quirks, what weirdo ability do you have?”

Midoriya shrinks into himself, voice getting weaker as he speaks. “Oh, uh… just… I’m quirkless.” He looks down at the dirt. “I, uh, I understand if that disqualifies-”

Suddenly he’s squeezed tight and his feet leave the ground. “Oh, so awesome! I’m quirkless too!”

He looks up in befuddlement. The Ninja... is hugging him? And they’re quirkless?!

“You have nooo idea how many times I’ve had to mentally prepare myself to paint myself as this old powerful being from before the age of quirks just so that way people would take me seriously! Or, maybe you do have an idea. BUT EITHER WAY, I can tell we’re going to become best friends!!”

Thunder rumbles ominously in the distance. It looks like rain clouds are starting to cover the mountains. 

“Don’t be jealous, Nomi! You know full well that we’ll be super best friends forever!”

The thunder quiets and the clouds dissipate. 

Cunningham sets him back down. “Anyways, if we’re going to become best friends, we should probably use our first names for each other- OH, or nicknames!!” They bounce in place excitedly. “How about… uh, hmm.” They stop bouncing, looking like they’re deep in thought. 

Midoriya swears that this whole trip is quite a series of whiplashes. First, he’s falling… into the NinjaNomicon, whatever that is (the book maybe???), and now a ninja ghost wants to be his best friend? He really isn’t sure how to process these events. 

“OH, I GOT IT!” They lean into Midoriya’s space. “Izusagi!”

“...What?”

The Ninja leans back. “Oh, you know. I just combined your name and the word bunny! You remind me of a rabbit for some reason.”

Such a cutesy name! “D-d-don’t you think that y-you’re moving a little too fast? We just met!”

Cunningham practically deflates. “Oh…” And then they reinflate. “No worries! Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I guess I’m just feeling,” they rub the back of their neck, “antsy? I haven’t made much of a friend in any of the previous Ninjas as much as I was just a teacher and I just…” They deflate again. “ I don’t know. You said you were quirkless and, for a moment, I felt that maybe I wouldn’t have to be a teacher this time around? Sorry, that was rude of me…”

“Well… we can still be friends… if you want? Just, calling me Izusagi feels like more than my heart can take right now. I’m, uh,” Midoriya looks down and shuffles his feet, “I don’t really have many… or any friends right now. So, uh, we can build up to the nickname, if you want?”

The Ninja looks like they have stars in their eyes. “YES! Oh, uh, I mean,” they clear their throat, “yes! That sounds like a good idea!”

Midoriya smiles brightly. Then he stumbles as a hole begins forming under him, making him panic slightly. 

Randy’s eyes widen. “Aww, already Nomi? Bye Izu- uh, friend! I’ll see you later!”

“Wha- where am I going?”

“Back outside Nomi, of course! Don’t worry, you’re safe!”

The ground beneath Midoriya is crumbling, but the hole is swiftly becoming too deep to climb out of. “Uhh, bye Randi!”

The last thing he sees is Randy’s eyes look shocked, and then they seem to smile. 

Midoriya falls. 

And then his eyes snap open. He gasps as if life was forced back into him. 

“Oh. My. Gosh! I was right!”

He’s laying down in the sand. His vision feels crystal clear in a way he’s never felt before. Or, has it always been this clear? “Woah.”

“Don’t worry, the first few times always leave you out of breath. You’ll get used to it.”

Midoriya looks over at The Ninja. They’re kneeling beside him, holding the ancient book and looking like the embodiment of excitement. “Was my soul just sucked into The NinjaNomicon?”

The Ninja’s eyes sparkle. “Even more proof that I was right!! You know the book’s name! And, uh,” they look thoughtful, “I believe so? At least I assume that’s what happens.”

He sits up. “So this book is sentient? What part of this experience was the test? Who’s Konihamu Randi? Why is a ghost in The NinjaNomicon? How old are they? Are you-”

“Woah, woah, slow down, kiddo! I’m only one person!” They stuff The NinjaNomicon back behind them, into a pocket, maybe? “Let me just tell you the story that is passed down from Ninja to Ninja. It should answer most of your questions.”

Midoriya sucks in a breath. The Ninja just implied… he’s going to become the next Ninja?

“It all began over nine hundred years ago. There was a man known simply as The Sorcerer. A villain of pure chaos. He wanted nothing more than to rule the world with the powers of the Chaos Pearls. And then, there was a family of nine who saw the evil he was and vowed to stop him. The Norisu Nine chased after The Sorcerer across the world, their numbers dwindling over time until nine became one. That one, is The First Ninja. 

“With the help of a Ninja who went back in time, they managed to trap The Sorcerer in the land that would eventually be known as America. The First Ninja guarded The Sorcerer’s prison until he was too old to be The Ninja anymore. He passed his mask on to somebody he viewed as worthy, to become The Second Ninja. 

“For eight hundred years, the mask was passed down from generation to generation, each Ninja tasked with guarding the prison. Over that time, a school was built over the prison despite The Ninja’s protests because The Sorcerer became nothing more than a fantastical myth. And with that, The Sorcerer saw multiple chances to escape. By spreading chaos, his power grows, thus he’d infect people with his magic, turning them into beasts. The Ninja, knowing that nobody would listen, then became guard of the prison  _ and _ protector of the school. 

“Then everything changed when a new Ninja was chosen in the year 2013. This Ninja you now know as Cunningham Randy. Through many hardships, they defeated The Sorcerer once and for all. And for a while, all seemed well. But it was short-lived, as another being known as The Sorceress had escaped a dimension known as The Land of Shadows. Enraged that her lover was gone, she gathered the Chaos Pearls left behind by The Sorcerer and became one of, if not the most, powerful evils in the world. 

“Cunningham Randy was powerful as well, and knowing this The Sorceress escaped from America and sent them on a chase across the world. They both ended up back in Japan where a great battle was wrought. Randy was inexperienced, but through a stroke of luck, he was winning. But then The Sorceress played dirty tricks and held one of his friends captive. A choice was given. Either The Ninja would defeat the Sorceress and his friend would die in the crossfire or he would let her go and his friend would survive. 

“Faced with an impossible choice, Randy thought fast and said that he would let her go. Thinking she had won, The Sorceress let her guard down and Randy tricked her back, managing to seal her away in the same way The First Ninja had done with The Sorcerer. 

“Randy never returned to America, once again guarding a prison. I’m sure you can guess exactly where it is located.”

Midoriya’s voice is small. “U.A. High School.”

“Correct! Randy guarded the prison while also training himself, hoping one day to become powerful enough to defeat The Sorceress. He trained and trained, doing his best to unlock all the secrets the suit possessed. 

“But, then the first human with a quirk was born. The discrimination began. And I’m certain you can figure out the rest of the tale.”

The sound of squawking seagulls sounds off in the distance. The sun is bright in the sky, just starting to dip behind the buildings. The reek of the garbage is still assaulting to the nose. All of it feels normal, which is weird ‘cause Midoriya’s world has just been flipped upside-down. 

“If you want to know more details about it all, I suggest you ask The NinjaNomicon and Randy. They both have the knowledge of  _ every _ Ninja to exist.”

Midoriya… for the second time today, he has to reconsider everything he thought he knew about the world. “...Magic’s real?”

The Ninja laughs awkwardly while rubbing their neck. “Yeah… takes a bit to wrap your head around it. Sorry to uproot your world.”

“Yeah… Just, give me a moment…”

Okay, so, magic… exists. The reason the students turn into monsters seemingly at random is because of an angry sorceress under the school trying to get revenge and rule the world. The Ninja Hero is actually a series of people and he’s next in line? A book is sentient and that started recently. Ghosts are real, can’t forget about that. He has made friends with said ghost.

“Aha, you sure do mumble a mile a minute, don’t you?”

Midoriya startles. He didn’t even notice he was mumbling! “Ah, sorry, sorry if I creeped you out!”

The Ninja laughs again, not sounding perturbed in the slightest. “You don’t creep me out! Don’t worry about it kiddo!”

That stops Midoriya. His mumbling doesn’t creep out The Ninja? Now that he thinks about it, Randy said he didn’t mind either. Are Ninjas just really nice?

They tilt their head, a concerned look in their eyes. “Uh, you okay there? You kinda look like you’re in disbelief right now.”

He blinks, and then blinks again. “I just…” He feels tears welling up. He ducks his head. “You’re too nice.”

“Uh… for saying that you’re not creepy for mumbling while thinking?”

“Not just that, but for everything.”

Silence. 

Midoriya dares to look up. 

The Ninja is eyeing him critically. 

Oh boy, what are they thinking? Do they think he’s too weak to be the next Ninja? Did he blow it before it even began?

The look in The Ninja’s eyes softens. “Relax.” They take their hand and mess up his hair. “You aren’t in any trouble. I was just thinking… you’re bullied, aren’t you?”

Huh? “H-how did you know?”

They take their hand back. “Kiddo, no offense, but you act like a textbook case study.” They start counting on their fingers. “Stutter, low self-confidence and self-esteem, constant apologies, also the most obvious,” they lean into Midoriya’s personal space, “you’re quirkless.”

Midoriya flinches and cowers into himself. “I-is it a problem?”

The Ninja nods. “Oh, it’s a problem alright.”

His heart sinks. 

“Tell me everything. Depending on what you tell me, I’ll get heroes to start investigating your junior high school and see why they’ve let someone reach your state.”

...Huh?

“Have you ever tried to go to the teachers about this? To the principal?”

Midoriya is shocked. “They don’t appear to care? I mean, u-uh, sometimes they see what happens to me, but they brush it off as, ‘kids being kids.’” He fidgets with his hands. “I guess I tried when I was in elementary school, but… all they did was give detention and it just made the bullying worse so I just…” he shrugs, “stopped.”

“...How bad does the bullying get?”

He looks down and starts playing mindlessly with the sand. Oh yeah, he’s still sitting… When did he start laying in the sand? He’s going to have to shower to get all the sand out of his hair… 

“Midoriya.”

His attention snaps back up. The Ninja’s tone is something he’s only heard when they’re facing villains. 

“Did they place flowers on your desk? Suicide bait you?” Their eyes narrow dangerously. “Physically assault you?”

“They…” Midoriya is unsure what to say.

The Ninja takes a deep breath and sighs. “You don’t have to tell me if it hurts to think about. But please understand, this is very important. And also, it isn’t just about you.”

Huh?

“If you’re bullied, then what are the chances that another quirkless kid coming to those schools experiences the same thing you did?”

Midoriya’s chest tightens and feels tears flooding his eyes. He- he never thought of that before. He lowers his head, hoping to hide the guilt on his face. “...They… haven’t done the flowers yet.”

There’s a moment of silence. Then there’s the sound of rustling. 

Midoriya keeps his head down as he cries. 

“Here.”

He dares a peek. 

The Ninja is holding out a red handkerchief. “For your tears.”

He hesitates before gently taking it. He wipes his eyes. 

“Would it be fine for me to hug you?”

He stares wide-eyed. 

“It’s okay if you don’t feel-”

He closes the gap between them, leaning against the other’s chest. 

The Ninja hesitates for just a moment before hugging Midoriya tightly. They pat his back and it’s like the dam has been broken as tears fall quickly from his eyes. 

“S-s-sorry, I-I just-”

“It’s okay, Midoriya. There’s no need to apologize. I will help you out of your pain. What kind of hero would I be if I sat by and did nothing?” 

He sobs. Nobody has ever been this gentle, yet not condescending to him. 

“It’s good to cry, so let it all out.”

And so he does. 

By the time Midoriya finally regains enough of himself, he pulls away. The Ninja lets go. 

He’s still crying, but at least he’s got a better hold of himself. He wipes his face with the handkerchief. The Ninja stands up and offers him a hand, which he accepts. “So… what happens now?”

The Ninja makes a slightly dramatic pose once they’re both standing. “Now is the time for me-” they reach behind their back, “-to make a phone call!” They pull out a red and black phone. 

Oh. 

“Please, do pardon me for a second, Midoriya.”

He waves his arms back and forth. “It’s fine!”

The Ninja’s eyes smile and they push a few buttons on the touch screen. They hold it up to their ear. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything critical, but a situation has come up. You want the bad news or the good news first?”

Midoriya wonders who they’re talking to. 

“The bad news is that I found a bullied quirkless kid. Their school does nothing to stop the bullying and from the sounds of it even turns a blind eye to physical assault and suicide baiting.”

A pause. 

“The good news is the kid is the next Ninja.”

Another pause. And it goes on for a while. 

“I’m with him right now, I’ll ask.” The Ninja holds their phone out to Midoriya. “You want to talk with Principal Nezu?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Casually puts spoilers into the definitions of names of OCs just because I can :3c


	3. A necessary conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter got finished much faster than anticipated. I wrote nearly the entire thing in one(1) writing session. I've never written over 3,000 words in one day before, and it was like 5am when I finished. The words just flowed and the conversation between the 4 characters felt too important to just stop writing in the middle of it all ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Whatever, I'm not complaining
> 
> Please comment and enjoy! :>

“Mom, I’m home!”

“Welcome home, Izuku! I’m in the kitchen, dinner’s almost ready! I made your favorite!”

“Uh, did you make a lot? We have company.”

There’s a little clattering sounding from the kitchen. “Oh?” Footsteps come to greet him. “Did you bring your friend ho-” She rounds the corner and freezes. 

Izuku doesn’t blame her, as the sight of The Ninja Hero and Nezu, the principal of the best hero school in Japan (and arguably the world), is right there standing in the doorway. 

Nezu raises a… hand(paw???). “Greetings, Ms. Midoriya-san! May we come in?”

Inko stutters. “Uh- o-of course! Please, forgive the state of my home, I-I wasn’t expecting company!”

Nezu smiles kindly as he walks in. “It’s no problem at all! We did come without notice, so all is forgiven.” He removes his shoes and places them on the shoe rack. 

The Ninja closes the door behind them and pulls out a pair of slippers to put on. 

Inko stares curiously at the company before turning her gaze to Izuku, an unspoken question clearly conveyed. There’s a bubbling noise sounding from the kitchen and she seems to remember that dinner is still on the heat. She hurries back into the kitchen. “I hope you all like katsudon!”

Izuku leads the guests into the kitchen. “M-mom’s cooking is the best.”

Nezu’s nose twitches. “I can tell! Might I say, it smells quite good.”

After a short bit, dinner’s sitting before everyone besides The Ninja (they can’t remove their mask). Everybody chimes in an “Itadakimasu~!” and digs in. 

There are hums of appreciation from Nezu, and Izuku is almost too stressed to eat, but his hunger outweighs his nervous energy. 

“Ms. Midoriya-san, this is truly delicious, thank you for having us!”

“Of course, Nezu-san! Though, I’m awfully curious about why you’re here in the first place.”

Nezu laughs. “As much as I wanted to discuss things sooner than later too, I think it’s a conversation best suited for after our meal. I don’t want the food to go cold when we inevitably get into the meat of the issues at hand! Besides, I don’t want to stop eating! Hahaha!”

Inko nods and then turns her questioning stare to Izuku. 

He doesn’t look her in the eye, knowing full well what’s going to happen. 

Dinner ends faster than Izuku would have preferred. He goes about starting to clean the dishes while Inko leads the guests into the living room. He takes a deep breath in and then blows it out through his mouth. He knows full well that his mother loves him, but he can’t help but internally cringe at the idea that his mother will be disappointed in him. 

Laughter sounds from the living room. His mom is doing a good job at being a host. If only he didn’t have to be a part of the conversation…

…

He’s wasting time and he knows it. Better to rip the bandaid off all at once, right?

Sighing, he places the last dish into the drying rack and heads for the living room. Before he heads in, he takes a silent breath and shakes out as much stress as he can. It doesn’t really work all that well, but before he can overthink it he heads in. 

“Ah, Mirodiya! So nice of you to finally join us!”

Izuku pays close attention to Nezu’s tone and expression, but he doesn’t… appear to be making fun of him or is being particularly meanspirited. But then again, it’s rather hard to get a good read on him. Maybe because he doesn’t know him that well. Izuku bows politely. “Sorry for making you wait.”

“No need to apologize! This is going to be a heavy conversation after all. But if it makes you feel better, your apology is accepted!”

Izuku stands back up. He sees his mother pat a seat next to her on the couch. He reluctantly heads over to sit down. He avoids looking directly at her. 

Nezu claps his paws together. “Excellent! Now that we’re all here, we can finally talk about the issues!”

“Issues?” Inko places a hand on her cheek. “Is Izuku in trouble?”

Nezu nods. “In a way, yes. Your son is very much in trouble. But not in the way you expect. Would you like to be the one to tell your mother, Izuku? Or would you rather The Ninja and I tell her?”

He shifts uncomfortably. He… doesn’t even want to be here. But he shudders out a sigh and looks at his mom. She looks very concerned. “Mom, I…”

She waits patiently. 

“I’m…” With every word he speaks, he gets quieter and quieter. “I’m being bullied at school.”

She places a hand on his shoulder. “Oh, Izuku… have you told your teachers?”

He grimaces. “They don’t care,” He looks down, “about me…”

The hand on his shoulder stiffens. “What do you mean they don’t care?”

“It’s… exactly what it sounds like. Sometimes they even laugh under their breath when I get made fun of.”

His mom takes her hand back. “What.” 

Izuku is surprised to hear a sharp growl in her voice. He shrinks into himself. “I-I promise I’m not lying…”

He’s pulled into a hug. “Oh no, Izuku, my baby, I’m not mad at you. I believe you.”

He looks up in surprise. There are tears in her eyes, but also a fierceness he’s not sure he’s ever seen before. “You do?”

“Of course.” She coos. She starts messing with his hair. “Of course I do. Oh, why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I-” He shrinks into himself again, trying to hide the tears that are starting to pool in his eyes. “I didn’t think it was that big a deal.”

“Not a big-!” The hug tightens. “Izuku, this is a big deal! Your life is a big deal! If you’re hurt, you tell me.”

He nods and leans into the hug. 

“Does Katsuki do anything to help?”

He tenses. “......No.”

She leans back and tries to look into his eyes. 

He refuses. 

“Izuku, please, look at me.”

After a few seconds, he looks up, tears threatening to spill. 

The look on his mother’s face is near indescribable. Perhaps tense? “Why hasn’t Katsuki done anything? Isn’t he your friend?”

Izuku looks away. “He… hasn’t been my friend in years, mom.”

Silence permeates the air thickly. 

Then, “Do you have any friends at school, Izuku?”

He shakes his head no. 

A wet-sounding gasp shocks Izuku enough to look up again, just to see tears falling freely from his mom’s eyes and the most anguished look he’s ever seen on her face. “I’m so sorry…”

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry, Izuku!” She goes back to hugging him tightly. “I should have noticed! Things have just clicked into place and I-I should have put together that you never brought friends home and never asked to spend the night at a friend’s house! What- what kind of mother am I to not notice that you’ve been hurting like this this entire time?”

“No, mom, it’s not your fault! I haven’t been talking about it, and have even been hiding it! It’s not your fault!”

“Izuku, it is my responsibility to look out for you! The signs were there, but I never thought it through! It’s my fault!”

“Actually, Ms. Midoriya-san, I wouldn’t say that either of you is to blame.”

Both the Midoriyas turn to look at principal Nezu. 

He looks determined and thoughtful. “The school board is the one to blame. After all, the adults in charge of your son’s life have purposefully been turning a blind eye. And also, I’m afraid it gets worse.”

“What do you-” Inko chokes on her sobs, “What do you mean worse? Izuku,” she turns to face him, “what does he mean?”

The look of raw pain and shock on his mother’s face is too much for him to handle, and so he spills. “Th-they, the s-students, they’ve been h-h-hurting me… like, hitting and kicking me…”

Somehow the expression on Inko’s face only deepens. “They’ve been assaulting you..?”

Izuku can’t stand looking at his mom’s face anymore. “I hide the bruises and scars.”

Stillness. 

And then his mom goes back to hugging him, this time gently as if afraid she’ll aggravate any wounds he might have. She rubs his back. 

It’s very quiet besides Izuku’s sobs. 

“Well, it’s clear that your son cannot speak anymore, so I’ll take over from here.”

Inko shifts her attention to the principal, still gently rubbing her son’s back, a stricken look on her face. 

“Apparently your son has also been the victim of suicide-baiting.”

She stills a moment, before going back to rubbing her son’s back. “Oh, Izuku… we’ll get you out of this, I promise.”

Izuku sobs harder. 

Nezu nods sharply. “Indeed, we will get your son out of this predicament.”

“That’s why you’re here, you’re going to help?”

“Yes, it’s part of the reason. We’re here to let you know a few things. First is your son’s status as a victim. The second is that we’re going to have the police launch a full investigation of Aldera Junior High. I do trust your son, Ms. Midoriya-san, but it takes more than the testimony of a single teenager to bring down a school. But don’t worry, I can practically smell the reek of the discrimination that’s in those halls without even seeing the place. I have no doubt in my mind that the police force will find plenty of evidence and see about getting, at the very least, the teachers fired and replaced with far more reputable people.”

Inko nods. “Thank you, Nezu-san. But,” she glances at The Ninja, who’s been sitting and watching quietly this entire time, “there’s more going on, isn’t there.”

Nezu smiles brightly. He looks over at The Ninja and nods. 

The Ninja nods back before looking at Inko. “Ms. Midoriya-san, I am the friend that your son met up with today. I apologize for having your son not fully tell you the truth about who he was meeting up with today. That was a mistake on my end.”

She blinks in confusion and waits for them to continue. 

“I’m uncertain how much your son has told you about the villain attack he was caught up in that required him to get stitches on his arm, but I’m the hero that saved him in the attack.”

She nods, already knowing. 

“From what I’ve seen of your son, he impressed me greatly during the attack. Certainly, it was foolish of him to try to tackle a villain while he’s so young and without any formal training-”

Inko gasps. She pulls back and looks down at her son. “Izuku, you didn’t tell me that you tried to take down the villain! That’s how-? Izuku, I’ve told you at least a thousand times to not go near any villains!”

Izuku ducks his head, his face starting to feel gross from all the tears and snot. “Sorry, mom…”

“However, Ms. Midoriya-san,”

His mom turns to look back at The Ninja. 

“He impressed me with what he did manage to do. The villain was about to attack the clerk at the register when Izuku ran into action. He might have gotten himself injured, but he did save that clerk before I could get into the store.” They hum a bit. “Just so we’re clear here, that villain had a quirk that gave him steel fingernails, which he had sharpened to deadly points, and was aiming for the clerk’s neck. Izuku very well might have saved her life. Or, at the very least, managed to save her from brutal damage.”

Izuku blinks. He never even realized that the villain was going for her neck, he just moved once he saw that the villain was angry and moving towards the clerk. 

“Which is why I believe that Izuku has what it takes to be a hero.” They lean forward. “I want to make Izuku my apprentice.”

Inko’s mouth is agape, completely dumbfounded. 

The Ninja leans back, shifting to a more comfortable position in the chair. “Of course, this completely depends on your permission, Ms. Midoriya-san.”

“Also,” All eyes in the room shift to Nezu, “I would be there to help Izuku as well! Believe me when I say The Ninja doesn’t take an apprentice just any day. We have been friends since before I decided to build U.A., so I know it’s quite the accomplishment for Izuku to catch the eyes of not just a pro, but an immortal being too!” He smiles wider. “Besides, I get the feeling that Izuku here is quite the bright child. I’ve already started thinking up tests to measure his intelligence, his empathy, and physical prowess. If you say yes to your son becoming an apprentice to The Ninja, he’s guaranteed a spot in U.A.! Perhaps not in the hero course since there are only ten months until the entrance exam and we’re not too certain he’ll be on par with the other teenagers who’ve had since they were four years old to work on building the strength of their quirks and build strategies around said quirk, but he’ll at least be guaranteed a position in general studies.”

Inko’s mouth opens and closes several times, clearly at a loss of words. 

“Please, mom?”

She looks down at her son. Her only child. 

He can tell that his eyes are red-rimmed and that he generally looks rather pathetic right now, but still. “I-I need to prove myself. Please?”

She looks incredibly uncertain. “I… The world of heroes is so dangerous.”

Disappointment strikes at Izuku’s heart. His eyes turn downcast. “Because I’m quirkless.”

The silence that follows is sickening to his mind. 

“If I may interject one last time,” Nezu says, a frown etched upon his face, “the world of heroes is the very same world that you live in, Ms. Midoriya-san. Danger could be lurking around any corner, and not just for the quirkless, mind you. I’m certain that with your son recently being caught up in a villain attack and just now learning that he’s been hurt ever since he was diagnosed quirkless makes you want to protect him from all the dangers the world has to offer. But I’m here to tell you that this offer for your son may be the best way for him to protect himself _and_ others from the dangers of this world. 

“And before you ask, Izuku’s quirklessness has been taken into account already and it shouldn’t be an issue whatsoever. U.A. is quite intolerant to bullying as it’s unfitting hero behavior. Trust me when I say that your son will be safe at my school.”

Inko stares for a few moments, then turns to face Izuku. 

He still isn’t looking directly at his mom and is gripping the sofa almost painfully. 

“Izuku.”

He barely acknowledges her, only making a slight noise. 

“I… I think I need to apologize to you.”

Izuku blinks and finally looks up at his mom. 

She’s holding back tears, but her face is determined. “All this time, I haven’t been somebody that you can trust.”

Izuku opens his mouth to protest, but his mom interrupts. “No, Izuku, don’t even say it. I should have been more clear with you that I am somebody you can come to with anything. But I didn’t. And because of that, you got hurt over and over again. In a way, I contributed to your pain.”

“Mom…”

“Let me finish.” She takes a shuddering breath. “And now that your dream that you’ve held since you first learned what it meant to be a hero is right before you, I had felt it would be too much for _me_ to handle. I wanted to keep you safe. But,” she laughs weakly, “I’ve failed on that front already. And now… oh Izuku, my sweet baby boy, I don’t want to fail you ever again. I want to keep you safe, locked away from the horrors of this world. 

“But… that wouldn’t be fair to you. And I’m afraid if I tried to hold you back from this, I’d end up losing you.”

“Mom, you’d never lose me!”

She tries to smile, but it’s more of a grimace. “But would our love for each other have been real if I forced you to not leave the nest?”

Izuku… isn’t sure what to say to reassure her. 

His mom tucks in her head, eyes hiding behind her hair. “It’s okay. There’s nothing you need to say. I know. Which is why I need to let you go in the way that matters most.” Tears stream down her face and she lifts her head back up. “You…” She sniffs, yet there’s an air of certainty about her, “You be the best hero the world has ever seen, okay?”

Izuku gasps. He can scarcely believe his ears. His mother… is approving of his dream for the first time since his quirkless diagnosis. For the umpteenth time in less than an hour, he cries. “Mom, I… Are you sure?”

She gives him that patented Midoriya smile through her tears. “I’m positive, baby.”

Izuku crashes into his mother for a bone-crushing hug, sobbing in joy. She hugs him back. 

And they stay that way for quite a while, crying into each other. At least, until a small clearing of the throat interrupts them. 

“I must say, this is a truly heartwarming scene! One that my friend and I most likely are intruding on! But don’t worry, you two keep having your moment. I’m glad to see Ms. Midoriya-san that you’ve accepted our offer. Unfortunately, we both have to be taking our leave now. However, if you have any questions feel free to call me using this phone number!” He pulls out a business card and sets it on the coffee table in the middle of the room. “There’s also an email address you can contact me in the case that a phone call would be inconvenient.”

Nezu and The Ninja stand up from their seats. 

“I suggest you two look into online schooling for tonight, while tomorrow I’m hoping to give Izuku a tour of the school! Would nine AM work for you, Izuku?”

Izuku looks to his mom. 

Inko smiles. “I can drive you since I have tomorrow off.”

He smiles in return and nods in enthusiastic agreement at Nezu. 

He claps his paws together. “Excellent! We’ll be off then!”

Izuku and Inko stand up together, politely guiding Nezu and The Ninja to the door.

Nezu pauses and then turns to face them. “Oh, and be certain to remember to contact Aldera Junior High that you’re pulling Izuku from their curriculum. Wouldn’t want to forget something important like that with all the drama going on!”

Inko bows politely. “Thank you for the reminder, Nezu-san. I’ll be sure to- OH!” She stands back up. “Pardon me for just one moment, I just remembered!” She rushes into the kitchen. 

There’s some clanking of dishes and she returns soon enough. She smiles brightly and holds out a container of the leftover kastudon to The Ninja. “For you, Ninja-san! I know you said you can’t remove your mask, so perhaps you can eat this later for dinner tonight!”

The Ninja’s eyes widen and then they accept it. “Thank you, Ms. Midoriya-san! I’ll be sure to enjoy this and send back the container with Izuku tomorrow.”

Nezu smiles and slips back on his shoes. “You truly are kind folk. I look forward to working with and training your son!”

Both the Midoriyas bow. “Thank you, Nezu-san, for accepting my son and agreeing to train him.”

Nezu bows politely back. “And thank you for the delicious meal! Perhaps we can do this again sometime.” He stands straight again and opens the door. “Goodbye! And take care!”

And with that, both Nezu and The Ninja leave, closing the door behind them. 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, if you're familiar with the lore of Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, you might be wondering where The Creep is. Well guess what? I forgot he existed cause I haven't watched the show in a couple of years and by the time I looked through Wikipedia trying to remember stuff about the show I'd already written over 3,600 words :)
> 
> So screw it. In this universe, he doesn't exist. Or he's dead. Pick your poison, it doesn't matter. I make the rules around here and I say that Midoriya gets a mentor!


End file.
